News

Hawaii's Cesspools Threaten Drinking Water, Tourism

Ian Lovett, The Wall Street Journal on February 11, 2018

Sewage from holes of human waste have state lawmakers scrambling to find a fix

HONOLULU - Paradise has a sewage problem.

Cesspools - holes in the ground where untreated human waste is deposited - have become a crisis in Hawaii, threatening the state’s drinking water, its coral reefs and the famous beaches that are the lifeblood of its tourist economy.

Sewage from cesspools is seeping into some of Hawaii’s ocean waters, where it has been blamed for infections suffered by surfers and snorkelers. It is also entering the drinking water in part of the state, pushing nitrate levels close to the legal limit.